Rise of Rurik

The Robard tribe, which was once prosperous, is now only in ruins. Their villages were occupied, and they themselves were either killed or taken into slavery.

When the outsiders Horik and Robard carried out strategic bundling, they also took down the risks.

At that time, when their leader was killed and the people were left without a leader, they were forced to join forces with the outsider Horik due to many considerations.

Now it's all over...

In theory, Denmark has been completely restored!

The War of Jutland in 840 began with the landing battle and retaliatory destruction at the northernmost tip of the peninsula, and then the battle for the Aleb Fortress on the Lindholm Isthmus.

When the battle line was pushed all the way south to the Schleswig Great Wall, all enemies in the town of Schleswig were wiped out.

For the vast majority of Danish nobles, it was time to call it a day.

But the war continues.

Just as Schleswig was recaptured and the coalition forces were taking a short rest, another military meeting was held.

This was a conference of victory, a conference of unity, and a conference that broke new ground.

Even the many Danish nobles present at the meeting, while praising King Rurik of Rus as the Holy Lord and King Ragnar of Denmark as the Great One, also bluntly and collectively demanded that they withdraw their troops.

retreat? Why retreat? Where is the fight?

Ragnar begged them to stay, and many nobles also spoke plausibly.

Some said that their tribe suffered a lot of casualties and needed to cultivate themselves.

Some say that the Frankish forces have been expelled from Jutland, and there is no need to expand the war at least this year.

Others said that their team had already plundered enough loot.

Some even said that they had to go north quickly and tell the Götalanders to go back to Scandinavia. It is this statement that resonates with the vast number of nobles.

Because of the Götalans, the Danish tribes did not welcome them. If it weren't for the joint crusade against the trespasser Horik and the prestige of King Rus, no Dane would want the Götaland army to wreak havoc in Danish territory, even if they wreaked havoc on the territory of the hostile Robad people. This can be regarded as an internal fight in Denmark. Denmark is unable to make irresponsible remarks to the overly powerful Rus. As for the poor Jotalans, they must leave.

This made Ragna quite embarrassed.

Continuing south into Hamburg, it’s natural. But if the demands of many nobles are not met, this group of guys will secretly choose another king, and then trigger a new civil war...

A compromise was reached between the parties in a military conference.

The main force of the Russian army will be divided into two teams: sea and land. It seems to have returned to the tactical arrangement at Lake Vetern, but the fact is that Rurik compromised the overall situation. As a king, when you bring together ethnic groups with different interests and demands within the territory, you must try your best to satisfy their respective demands.

The Danes' statement is very true. As friendly forces, the Götalanders continue to rely on the Jutland Peninsula. As long as time is delayed, the alliance they forcibly created will split, and the Danes will expel the Götalanders on their own.

They also verbally have a more euphemistic statement about the Swedish army. The nobles are convinced that the Rus and the Swedes are brothers. Compared with the Götalans, the Swedes are even more heavyweight.

If you want the Swedes to leave Jutland, you really can only rely on King Rurik to persuade them personally.

Rossshire's troops were to be divided, and the wounded had to be carried away immediately by ship.

Arik was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the land forces of the Ross Army, and was responsible for the combat forces of the first to sixth banner corps. To this day, the continuous fighting has caused many soldiers to be killed or injured and transported away. It seems that the huge six banners team, the combat strength has been reduced to two thousand people. For example, half of the brave First Flag Team has been lost, and the only remaining veterans who are in their early 200s still have their essence.

The cavalry was also incorporated into this team. Fisk used some captured horses to collect soldiers who could ride horses in the army. The cavalry returned to the size of 300 cavalry, but its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.

The main force of the Russian army had lost a lot of energy in the battle that lasted for nearly half a year. It was at this juncture that the Slavic army, which had suffered no losses, immediately showed its value.

Medved's warriors numbered as many as a thousand! At this time of year, they should have been harvesting, threshing, and growing wheat in the fields of Novgorod, but now they were in the extremely distant west. Since they were too far away from their hometown, the soldiers simply didn't think about it. Because the king made a promise to everyone, the so-called army will receive a large amount of food supplies from the Count of Hamburg. Even if the farmland in his hometown fails to harvest, the brothers will not suffer losses.

More than that? In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Rurik solemnly promised that all soldiers who go to war, regardless of their ethnicity, life or death, will be exempted from all taxes this year.

As a result, the Russian army retains 3,300 soldiers, which is able to run sideways in Europe today.

The Blue Fox also has a mixed force of the Swedish Unclas Army and the Gothenburg Army, which still has a strength of 600 people today.

A team of four thousand people was assembled, and the destination was Hamburg.

Could it be that without the command of the supreme commander, this army could march with certain discipline?

As the restored Duke Liudolf, he could now gather not even a thousand Saxon troops.

Look at the Russian army, and then look at your own people. The troops on one side were as powerful as the legendary Charlemagne's army, and on the other side were peasant soldiers who were like beggars. Weighing his own strength, Liudov was convinced that he would not be able to stop this Ross army from plundering as it marched south, so he could only pray that these Ross noble generals would abide by their agreement and would not take the initiative to plunder Saxon villages.

But as the Duke of Saxony, he had to pay a price, and he had to come up with a lot of new wheat as tribute to appease the army from going crazy.

Liudov was not a fool. When he observed the fighting methods of the Russian army from a new perspective, he was also learning silently in his heart.

The military actions were unified and orderly. Troops were divided into groups and communicated by drums, bugles, and flags. Every soldier wears the same clothes and has the same weapons. Each soldier had a large backpack, stuffed with food and personal belongings, and wrapped with a curly cloth blanket on the outside.

What shocked him the most was that the Ross army was good at using arrows. It seemed that most battles could be solved by relying on endless archery.

He silently kept it in mind, thinking that the five hundred cavalry he brought from the Westphalian fiefdom were very capable, but the whole army was wiped out. The Count of Hamburg brought 200 cavalry and his entire army was wiped out. Is it understandable that if Prince Ludwig leads a thousand cavalry into battle, the entire army will be annihilated?

"I need these Norman troops to escort me on my way south, and I need them to consolidate my rule. At least I need them this year."

As a result, the Ross-Saxony coalition army of 5,000 people began to move south by land.

At the same time, Rurik also took action. The huge fleet carried the remaining Russian troops and began to move north. At this point, Rurik still had two thousand people under his command. Apart from the capable standing army wearing bear heads, the remaining The military strength seems to be very mixed. The huge Rus fleet accompanied the fleet of Danish nobles as they left Schlei Bay and headed north.

At this point, Schleswig regained its calm and lost its vitality.

Everyone has evacuated completely. Although there are a large number of buildings, there is no one at the moment.

Some large pits were dug to bury those who died in the war, and the dead were laid to rest in their graves. The dead of the Ross Army have been reduced to ashes in the flames, and their ashes will be collected and taken back to the cemetery in New Rossburg for burial. The Russian army swept the battlefield, which is extremely rare in today's European wars.

Is this a merciful act? The northern saint Eskil, who was hit by an arrow in the thigh, was very pleased...

"Perhaps, he can really become a king like Augustus. Unfortunately, he is unwilling to convert."

The carriage creaked, but Eskil still held his silver-plated wooden cross firmly. Next to him sat the young priest who had fled into the forest and was brought back to Schleswig. They were traveling in the same carriage and headed south with the huge army.

He lifted up his black robe and occasionally opened the linen wrapped around his leg to check the injury. Thank God, his fatal wound healed well. As long as there was no strenuous exercise, everything would be fine.

Esquier did not attribute this to medical skill, but was convinced that it was a miracle. The arrow in the thigh was a fatal wound. It must have been because his piety moved God. With God's blessing, he will continue to spread the gospel after the situation stabilizes.

From Schleswig to Hamburg, even if the road is a little winding, the total journey is equivalent to 120 kilometers.

Of course, this is not a big problem for the Russian army, which often fights wars. Even if it is a land march, when each soldier has extremely abundant logistical supplies, marching is nothing.

For the Saxon army, dilly-dally was inevitable.

As the commander-in-chief, Arik had no choice but to accommodate Liudov's dilly-dallying.

Precisely because of the sufficient supplies, the Russian army did not have to rob the villages along the way. "Replenishing on the spot" means looting. This is indeed a shortcut to solve logistics. It means that everything you get depends on luck. It can also force the locals to flee, and even induce the locals' tragic tactics of clearing the field from the wall. The general Viking army would give priority to relying entirely on plundering to replenish logistics. However, the Ross army already has a size of 4,000 people, and it is marching across the border in Saxony, an unfamiliar area, so it must be cautious.

In the eyes of Liudov and Robert who accompanied him, this group of Norman Ross troops from the north refreshed their understanding of Norman pirates.

The army walked on a dirt road that was made by the feet of travelers. This dirt road was not random. The villages along the way were action nodes. The roads connected these villages in series, connecting Hamburg to the north.

The villages here are all inhabited by Saxons, but the people who fled from the north have long informed of the war in the north. All the villages were on alert. When they saw the appearance of a huge army, a large number of blue and white troops, the first thing they thought of was that this was not a barbarian army, but must be the Frankish regular army.

The Danish Normans couldn't afford to offend, and the Frankish regular army couldn't afford to offend them even more. Because the retaliatory killings of the Saxon people by Charlemagne's Frankish army is a lingering nightmare in everyone's mind.

One by one, village leaders took the villagers to inquire about the situation, and soon learned something shocking.

Liudov, who inherited his bloodline from Vidukind, announced that the Duchy of Saxony was resurrected! The restored Duchy of Saxony declared its opposition to Ludwig, and all conquered Saxons were freed from Frankish control at this moment.

Villages along the way doubted the authenticity of the incident and feared revenge from the Frankish army, especially the local Count of Hamburg. With Robert the Count of Hamburg himself being dragged out to testify, things seemed to be settled.

It's been too long! The Saxons, who were subjugated slaves, welcomed back their king. They vented their inner dissatisfaction and offered some newly harvested oats and rye as tribute, and the village declared its allegiance to Liudolf.

At the same time, they also understood the true identity of these neatly dressed troops. They are not Danes, but Rus. The Ross army is a foreign army. They are allied with the restored Principality of Saxony. The purpose of their existence today is to help Liudov defend the hard-won fruits of restoration. It is this group of Russian troops who will fight against possible Frankish counter-rebellion forces. As long as they win a major victory, the Principality of Saxony will not die again.

Of course, these Saxon villages also knew the price of refusing allegiance, which was the countless northern troops. Refusal of allegiance was a declaration of confrontation. In this way, without the arrival of the Frankish army, this group of northern troops could raze the villages to the ground.

Each village made the most rational choice - to be loyal to Liudov as the Duke. Only in this way can they buy peace by paying tribute to this year's new wheat.

A village could provide five hundred pounds of new wheat, an amount that Liudov himself had requested. Many villages had to hand over "certificates of allegiance" of this weight. Liudov thus proved his power and satisfied the provisions of his army. More importantly, he began to implement his contract with King Rurik. .

Such an amount of wheat is only equivalent to an appetizer before a meal. For these Saxons, their restoration almost all came from the charity of the Kingdom of Rus. Restoration is an extremely accidental thing. Without the support of the Kingdom of Rus, this restoration will be short-lived and will encounter bloody revenge from the Franks.

Then all Saxons will still have to pay a huge price.

It was a secret agreement. The Principality of Saxony was to hand over two million pounds of wheat to the Kingdom of Ross to serve as the military expenditure for the Ross army this year and to pay for the military protection of the Kingdom of Ross.

This is a very large amount, but Rurik is not asking for a high price. He has a good reason: "We will help you restore your country and help you fight the war. We do not intend to occupy your land, and we will be allies in the future. I want you to spend two hundred this year. Ten thousand pounds of wheat already speaks of friendship."

The uncontrollable Danes did not come, but the principled Russians came.

Liudov, who could no longer look back, was sad because he could not even care about the lives of his wife and children in Westphalia because of his ambition. He simply became cruel and gave the Russians whatever they wanted. At worst, he would immediately start to conquer all the Frankish villages in the south. Control, confiscated wealth and immediately paid it as tribute to the Rus' army.

In fact, for the huge Saxony region, their total population is as high as half a million.

In theory, a population of this size must be loyal to Duke Liudov, but he has little ability to control it well. He could not do what Rurik did, placing the kingdom's main population of 200,000 in a few large settlements, thereby directly controlling it from top to bottom.

Liudov could still only, like his ancestor Vidukind, first firmly control a core area, and then rely on his personal prestige to demand the allegiance of Saxon barons everywhere. There are indeed variables here. If there is no guarantee, some barons will reject him for various reasons, but continue to be loyal to the Frankish nobility. Man, you can’t tell. Liudov is still not convinced that the effect of his "grandson of Vidukind" is perfect.

However, as he and the army of the Saxon barons received the reinforcement order from Robert, Count of Hamburg, to support Schleswig, it turned out that his identity was indeed useful.

Indeed, Vidukind is a hero known to everyone, and the viscounts all know that the descendants of the hero did not decline, but were deliberately placed in distant places to continue to be nobles. In the past year, they have learned that the grandson of this hero was sent to the Danish world as a chess piece. Many Saxon barons were worried about him, fearing that the Danes would devour him.

The hero's grandson Liudov did not die. In exile, he actually formed an alliance with the Danes and the mysterious Russians. After all, he is the grandson of a hero! Half a century has passed, and many heroic deeds have become stories passed down by word of mouth.

They did not lose the courage to rebel, and because of the outbreak of a full-scale civil war among the three Frankish princes, the Saxon forces in the northern border area were secretly preparing to move.

Like a bundle of firewood that has been spilled with grease, it only needs a spark to ignite in an instant.

They did not hesitate to seize this golden opportunity and reluctantly went to Schleswig. Now, the barons, retinues and peasant soldiers, these Saxons supported Liudov as the real Duke of Saxony like no other.

After all, this was the only dirt road going north to Schleswig. The Ross-Saxony road going south was very slow for various reasons. It took six days to walk the equivalent of 120 kilometers.

However, at the time of departure, Liudov's various Saxon warriors (including the hiders found in the Schleswig Forest) numbered only 900, and many of them were actually just making up the numbers. Even if they were just making up the numbers, when the coalition forces arrived in Hamburg, the Saxon army had swelled to 5,000 men!

Judging from absolute numbers alone, Liudov's Saxon Army had surpassed the Ross Army's land forces, which made him feel confident.

Now, the city of Hamburg is right in front of us. Even though it is just a fortress-like city with a population of less than a thousand people, it is guarded by a large number of villages like stars.

Liudolf stood here, and Robert, Count of Hamburg, paid him the utmost respect.

The whole of Hamburg welcomed the real Duke of Saxony. All the local Saxons supported Liudolf, and all the Franks in the region were shocked!

The Franks could not bear to be shocked by the rapid development of the matter. Because it was the autumn harvest season, it was impossible for Frankish farmers to leave their farmland. They were all working and were rounded up and detained. All their possessions were confiscated, except for the clothing they wore and a limited daily supply of food. They were collectively put into ten huge barns and closely guarded by the Russian and Saxon armies.

Robert, on the other hand, was reunited with his wife and children, and his servants and the last of his retinue were saved. In fact, due to the loss of the absolute elite, Robert's status as earl was only in name. In the Hamburg area, he, the earl of Hamburg, had no soldiers and no power, and no common people recognized this noble status.

As Bremen burned and nearby villages were destroyed, the people who fled created Hamburg, a densely populated area. Both sides of the Elbe River are a good place for agriculture. Now the Frankish immigrants have been intensively guarded after the retaliatory actions of the local Saxons, and the remaining farmland is occupied by the Saxons. At present, Liu Doufu did not see the bloody acts in the revenge operation and simply pretended that they did not exist. Find Shuyuan www. zhaoshuyuan. com He ordered the elimination of Frankish influence, and now he has a large number of Frankish "prisoners" with nothing in his hands. A tactical purpose has been achieved.

Liudolf arrived in Hamburg and immediately declared it the temporary capital of the Duchy of Saxony.

He stood on the tower of the fortress and looked up into the distance. Everything was so beautiful, but also very magical.

Robert, his wife and children had moved out of the fort and were encamped outside the city with a small group of followers.

Similarly, the huge Rus army was also encamped by the river outside the city.

Liudov knew that if these ruthless Normans waited any longer, the huge fleet of King Rurik of Rus would soon come in from the ocean. In his heart, he didn't hope so, but Hamburg was an open area facing the river and the sea. The Ross army would use this place as a large military camp. By then, the Ross-Saxon coalition could wait and wait for Ludwig's reaction.

"Ah! I have to reorganize the army immediately. I want to send an envoy immediately to order all the barons to be loyal to me! No! I also want to send a special envoy back to Westphalia to pick up my family. Yes, the pick-up matter is in the The first one."

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